Summary

  • Alastair Strachan's 2026 RIPE NCC survey account says 27% of 26 NOGs answering the team-size question had one or two core organisers; another 31% had three to five. The wider organiser survey received 27 replies.
  • More than 500 participant responses put networking ahead of technology learning as a reason to attend. Respondents often wanted fewer vendor pitches, while Strachan says sponsored talks may help keep tickets affordable.

The NOG meeting begins well before the first router diagram appears on screen. Someone books the room, raises the money, finds speakers and persuades operators that the day is worth leaving their own networks. Alastair Strachan of the RIPE NCC asked who does that work. In his 2026 account of two NOG surveys, the answer is often a very small crew.

The participant survey drew over 500 responses; the organiser survey drew 27. Only 26 organisers answered the core-team-size question. Of those, 27% described a team of one or two, 31% three to five, 27% six to ten and 15% more than ten. These are shares of respondents, not a census of the roughly 40 active NOGs Strachan identifies across RIPE's service region. Still, the workload has a recognisable shape: a conference for hundreds may depend on a committee that barely fills a meeting table.

The people who attend make the bargain harder. In a multiple-choice question, networking led their reasons for coming. They valued technical exchange across company borders and often asked for fewer vendor pitches. Strachan writes that sponsorship can make accessible ticket prices possible. A small team thus has to sell enough of the programme to fund the room without selling away the conversations people came for. The survey reports that most still prefer to meet in person; time, travel and cost remain participation barriers.

Strachan presents NOGs as places where operators build relationships that help independent networks coordinate. That value rests on unglamorous labour. The survey gives no event budgets, sponsor terms or volunteer attrition data. A dated organiser census and those records would show which groups have a genuine handoff plan and which are one resignation away from missing their next meeting.

Sources: Strachan's RIPE Labs survey account · RIPE NCC speaker profile.